How to Prepare a Checklist

Are you one of the many who feels the need of a checklist because there’s so much to do? People tend to disregard checklists and make use of their memory to remember everything. But hey, you aren’t superman. Maybe it’s time for you to make that change. If you want to save a lot of time and effort, start organizing your to-do list now.

Here’s how to prepare your checklist.

Invest on planners

Getting at least a planner is the first step to get you organized. Dated pages will be best to allow you to divide your workload based on days. If you are the busy worker, always bring your planner in your bag. This is better than just putting your checklist on small pieces of paper and lose it on the way.

Repeatable and semi-repeatable checklists

According to Dr. Donald E. Wetmore, an average person makes use of 13 various ways to manage their time. Checklists are one of those but time management does not stop there alone. An organized checklist saves you a lot of time by separating your repeatable list and semi-repeatable list.

A repeatable to-do list is the ones you do almost on a daily basis. This would include, buying your morning coffee, answering emails or even picking up your kid from school. Semi-repeatable lists are the ones you do at least once a week or twice a month. Whatever it is, these are lists you have scheduled purposely for a reason. A good example would be a planned trip out of town, a meeting with your boss by the next month or even your monthly bills to pay.

Classify urgent to non-urgent

With the dates divided, write down your checklist in a manner from the most important to least important chores. In this way, you don’t confuse yourself with what to do first and last. Also, don’t forget to place time if your checklist includes very important reminders too.

Placing big check marks

It’s time to breathe when work is done. When you’re done with something, make sure to place a check mark on it to avoid confusion if you have already done it or not. If a list gets cancelled too, mark it with X so you don’t waste your time thinking if you missed it out or what.

Leave a space for notes

Within the day, there would always be a time that you will forget something. It is important that you place a section in your planners on note taking. This avoids cluttering your checklist with a lot of words. Write down neatly and properly.

Use mobile checklists

If you are techy, planners may be old school for you. Gadgets like Apple and Android phones now support different checklist applications to keep you organized. What’s good in these apps is that it can remind you for your next checklist everyday through an alarm from your phone. For sure, you won’t forget anything when you have your phone on hand.

As a year starts, have your new year’s resolution ready by getting yourself organized. Whether you are a busy businessman, a regular employee or even a house mom, checklists will make everyday life easier and productive. Make sure to not just start it but continue to do it until another year starts.

I love my planner. My week to week looks pretty similar but I just leave room if there needs to be anything added to it or adjusted somehow. I always put the most important things on top of my list so I know what needs to be done first. It just helps keep life organized and less stressful.